Q I live in East San Jose and parking is such a problem in my neighborhood. It seems like every person owns three or more cars. So some of my neighbors are placing cones in front of their houses to prevent people from parking. Some have gone as far as putting cement in them so people won’t move them. Is it illegal to do that?

Sick of overcrowded streets

San Jose

A Yes, and this happens all over the Bay Area. The San Jose Municipal Code (Section 13.24.010) prohibits the placement of obstacles or obstructions in the public right of way, including traffic cones in the street. You can contact the city’s sidewalk folks at 408-794-1900 to report the location of the obstructions, and they will notify the property owner to remove the cones. If the owner does not act after being notified, the city will remove them and bill the owner for the cost of picking up and removing them.

Q I haven’t written to you in over a decade but felt compelled now as I’m certain by typing this email my blood pressure is slowly lowering after a most frustrating drive into work last week. I work in Santa Clara and avoid Interstate 280 as much as possible and take Stevens Creek Boulevard, and last week it took me 19 MINUTES to get to the right turn into Agilent from Woodhams Road. According to Mapquest, that is .08 of a mile! The next day the same stretch of road took 23 minutes and the entire trip 1 hour, 4 minutes.

I challenge you to drive this stretch between 8:30 and 9 a.m. on a weekday and keep your blood pressure within normal range. Is something screwy going on, or is this just the absolute worst time to drive into work in the morning?

Laura Henderson

San Jose

A My doctor won’t let me do anything that would raise my blood pressure. But …

Q That #@**! light at Agilent Technologies is still fouling up westbound Stevens Creek traffic!

Dan Dugan

A I dialed Dennis-the-Santa-Clara-Traffic-Man, and he reports that there has been a series of problems on Stevens Creek. First, at Stevens Creek and Agilent, some traffic loops went bad and will be replaced. This was causing the signal to stay green for the maximum amount of time throughout the day for cars exiting from Agilent. The signal has been placed on a fixed time to ease the wait until repairs are made.

At Stevens Creek/Cabot/Loma Linda, the signal controller was not coordinating itself with the other intersections on Stevens Creek in the morning. It has been reprogrammed and signal folks will monitor it this week.

More bad loops were found on Stevens Creek at Woodhams, Cabot/Loma Linda and Lawrence Expressway, but those would not have caused the nasty delays you had. Still, they will be replaced within a few weeks.

Q This is the first time I have had a question to ask you. I was driving home in San Carlos and found a new stop sign at Wellington Drive and Clifton Avenue. I almost went right through the stop, as it was night and it had just been put in. I am rather upset to see this new addition. There was no notification or opportunity to speak out against the signs. While there is a school crossing next to the street, I attended the school when I was younger and never had problems crossing at this crosswalk. If there are concerns about traffic, a crossing guard should have been placed there in the mornings.

Alison Richins

San Carlos

A The all-way stop signs will stay to provide school kids and their guardians a protected crossing to Arundel School. It is part of citywide striping upgrades and was the subject of several meetings with the public.

Al-the-Traffic-Boss says safety around Arundel School has long been a concern, and the intersection has been studied three times since 2007.

Residents in the area have made repeated requests to install the signs.

The problem is sight distance: A consultant reported that southbound vehicles coming downhill could not be seen by eastbound vehicles within stopping sight distance guidelines.

And the city has already gotten feedback from one resident who said: “Thanks for the stop signs and improved cross walks at Wellington and Clifton. I walk my kids to Arundel every school day and this is a huge improvement!”

Gary Richards has covered traffic and transportation in the Bay Area as Mr. Roadshow since 1992. Prior to that he was an assistant sports editor at the paper from 1984-1987. He started his journalism career as a sports editor in Iowa in 1975.